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Main => Gospel Music Lounge => Topic started by: Bruh Kell on March 30, 2008, 11:01:07 AM

Title: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Bruh Kell on March 30, 2008, 11:01:07 AM
Please tell me somebody......what do people think this Constantine person is so important?
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: sjonathan02 on March 30, 2008, 11:59:50 AM
Please tell me somebody......what do people think this Constantine person is so important?

The character played by Keanu Reeves?  ?/? :-\
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: THE WOLFMAN on March 30, 2008, 02:28:35 PM
The character played by Keanu Reeves?  ?/? :-\

nah, the Roman emperor.


(interesting judeo-christian fiction, tho)
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Bruh Kell on March 30, 2008, 04:37:06 PM
The character played by Keanu Reeves?  ?/? :-\

You stay havin' jokes!
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: sjonathan02 on March 30, 2008, 07:14:22 PM
You stay havin' jokes!


(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w249/Imaginary_Rainbow/z4493890.gif) 8)
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Dredakyst on March 30, 2008, 10:17:03 PM
From what I can remember...   He's was the pivotal point of Christianity in which brought it mainstream...making it the "Official Religion" if you will,  Scholars believe his mother played a strong influence to his belief in Christianity. She's regarded as a saint in some circles of the Christian faith...

If I'm not mistaken, he was behind the council of Nicaea... a group of Scholars and Theologians that placed guidelines and regulations that help enforced the Christian belief as a staple in the Roman Empire. (stuff that everyone could agree on)

One can easily argue that because of this point in history Christianity transcended.

but as you dig deep, people can also argue that this is greatly exaggerated and some shady stuff went on.. Nevertheless, by an emperor making it "official"  certainly could have helped it spread across the empire of its day.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: B3Wannabe on March 31, 2008, 04:23:04 AM
Indeed....what I'm said.

I have more to add, but I'll wait and let FS add it for me. ;)
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Salvador on March 31, 2008, 07:28:20 AM
Please tell me somebody......what do people think this Constantine person is so important?
Why do you ask?
My guess is you've run into someone or something acting as if Constantine canonized the bible or something. Like Da Vinci Code.

If that's the case people of this sort place the emphasis on the wrong parts.
Like the council of Nicea. It was done in order to make sure everyone was on the same page, Constantine did pay for it and it was even held at his summer home, but he had nothing to do with what was decided there.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Bruh Kell on March 31, 2008, 12:26:12 PM
Why do you ask?
My guess is you've run into someone or something acting as if Constantine canonized the bible or something. Like Da Vinci Code.

If that's the case people of this sort place the emphasis on the wrong parts.
Like the council of Nicea. It was done in order to make sure everyone was on the same page, Constantine did pay for it and it was even held at his summer home, but he had nothing to do with what was decided there.

Man where'd you get tat kind of info.?
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Salvador on March 31, 2008, 03:33:12 PM
Man where'd you get tat kind of info.?
Like two years ago I read up on all of this kind of stuff.
why?
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Bruh Kell on March 31, 2008, 04:12:30 PM
Like two years ago I read up on all of this kind of stuff.
why?

That is the info of brilliance.........As a member of the church I'm proud of you!
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Salvador on March 31, 2008, 04:27:09 PM
Thanks.  :)

If you don't mind me asking where did the Constantine question come from?
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Bruh Kell on March 31, 2008, 06:40:37 PM
Thanks.  :)

If you don't mind me asking where did the Constantine question come from?

I was casting my pearls before the swine on youtube. This guy was attacking the Christian Faith.
Talking some stuff about "Paulism" (??) being a "far cry" from the treachings of Jesus an' stuff like that...... you know them small lies and assumptions about your savior that get you goin'!!!

Finally he made mention of Constantine......an' I was like who is Constantine? He replied saying................

"You're talking about Christianity and don't know who Constantine is? If that's true, I see why there is such a mass of mislead people in the world. history is an important thing when dealing with religion............."

This lead me to look up Constantine (so I could throw away some more of my pearls proving that I'm still saved Constantine or none ;D)

I only really asked on here because I wanted to know what the world thought was so important about Constantine. I really already knew this Constantine character wasn't important since God saved me personally a few years back without me ever knowing a thing about any Constantine!
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Salvador on April 01, 2008, 08:28:52 AM
I was casting my pearls before the swine on youtube. This guy was attacking the Christian Faith.
Talking some stuff about "Paulism" (??) being a "far cry" from the treachings of Jesus an' stuff like that...... you know them small lies and assumptions about your savior that get you goin'!!!

Finally he made mention of Constantine......an' I was like who is Constantine? He replied saying................

"You're talking about Christianity and don't know who Constantine is? If that's true, I see why there is such a mass of mislead people in the world. history is an important thing when dealing with religion............."

This lead me to look up Constantine (so I could throw away some more of my pearls proving that I'm still saved Constantine or none ;D)

I only really asked on here because I wanted to know what the world thought was so important about Constantine. I really already knew this Constantine character wasn't important since God saved me personally a few years back without me ever knowing a thing about any Constantine!
Oh, the irony in that little bit about history.
Francis Bacon said "A little philosophy inclineth men's minds to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds to religion..." I think you can substitute philosophy here with history.

Even had you corrected him on the issues over Paul (a skeptic favorite) and Constantine...he would've had something else. And then something else...
Someone attacking anothers religion on youtube, and not even IN the video, but in the comments, isn't really searching for the truth.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: sjonathan02 on April 01, 2008, 08:35:04 AM
Oh, the irony in that little bit about history.
Francis Bacon said "A little philosophy inclineth men's minds to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds to religion..." I think you can substitute philosophy here with history.

Even had you corrected him on the issues over Paul (a skeptic favorite) and Constantine...he would've had something else. And then something else...
Someone attacking anothers religion on youtube, and not even IN the video, but in the comments, isn't really searching for the truth.


Agreed.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Fenix on April 01, 2008, 08:44:08 AM
Hmph! I don't EVER argue with YouTube denizens. Those are a different breed of animal and it would be a waste of my time to try and argue with them. You'd just get unnecessarily annoyed.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: drums2keys on April 01, 2008, 08:50:32 AM
wow all this time i thiught it was just a movie
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: T-Block on April 01, 2008, 09:02:53 AM
wow all this time i thiught it was just a movie

You and me both.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: sjonathan02 on April 01, 2008, 09:04:07 AM
nah, the Roman emperor.


(interesting judeo-christian fiction, tho)


I knew that; just wanted Kell to get to the reason for his question. ::)
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: sjonathan02 on April 01, 2008, 09:04:40 AM
Hmph! I don't EVER argue with YouTube denizens. Those are a different breed of animal and it would be a waste of my time to try and argue with them. You'd just get unnecessarily annoyed.

I have neither the time nor the inclination. ::)
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Big T. on April 01, 2008, 09:22:30 AM
I have neither the time nor the inclination. ::)
CO_SIGN!!!
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: fmason3 on April 01, 2008, 09:47:49 AM
Constantine was raised pagan and was pagan most of his life.  He was an avid sun worshipper.  However, he nominally accepted Christianity and was baptized just before he died.  But Christianity did not replace paganism in his empire, but rather, Christianity adopted paganism.  Christians were persecuted before Constantine accepted Christianity but afterwards, it was cool.  But the problem is the form of Christianity that followed. 

Constantine converted sun-worshipping pagans to Christianity by fusing pagan symbols, rituals and dates into a hybrid religion.  Egyptian sun disks became the halos of Catholic saints.  Remember the Greek sun god helios....hence halo....and sol in Roman mythology...or sol invictus...the "unconquerable sun."  Images of Isis nursing her son Horus were recast as Mary and baby Jesus.  The Persian sun god Mithra was said to have been born on Dec. 25..."natalis invicti"...rebirth of the winter sun, unconquered by the rigors of the season.  That of course was the obvious choice for Christmas even though there's no biblical evidence that we as Christians should commemorate the birth of Jesus. 

Sunday (first day of the week) was also a very holy day to pagan sun worshipping cultures.  Where as throughout the entire bible, God's people observed the seventh day of the week as His holy day.  But Constantine, in an Edict back in A.D. 321 declared Sunday as the official day of rest on which markets were banned and public offices were closed (contrary to Ex. 20:8-11, Neh. 13:15-21).  Furthermore...a few years later at the Council of Laodicea, they outlawed the observance of the seventh-day sabbath:  "Christians should not Judaize and should not be idle on the Sabbath, but should work on that day; they should, however, particularly reverence the Lord’s day and, if possible, not work on it, because they were Christians" (Canon 29 [A.D. 360]).

After Constantine "accepted" Christianity and amalgamated it with paganism, the persecution of Christians did not cease.  Christians that kept the true faith and rejected this spurious new faith continued to give themselves up as martyrs who loved not their lives unto death. 

Throughout the bible, God's relationship with his church is likened to that of a marriage (See story of Hosea and Gomer, parable of the 10 virgins, etc).  Yet in Revelation, God talks about a church that has played the harlot...that has committed spiritual adultery against God.  That's why some pagans laugh at most strains of Christianity.  I saw a bumper sticker one time that said something about Christianity having pagan footprints. 
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Salvador on April 01, 2008, 09:50:05 AM
Constantine was raised pagan and was pagan most of his life.  He was an avid sun worshipper.  However, he nominally accepted Christianity and was baptized just before he died.  But Christianity did not replace paganism in his empire, but rather, Christianity adopted paganism.  Christians were persecuted before Constantine accepted Christianity but afterwards, it was cool.  But the problem is the form of Christianity that followed. 

Constantine converted sun-worshipping pagans to Christianity by fusing pagan symbols, rituals and dates into a hybrid religion.  Egyptian sun disks became the halos of Catholic saints.  Remember the Greek sun god helios....hence halo....and sol in Roman mythology...or sol invictus...the "unconquerable sun."  Images of Isis nursing her son Horus were recast as Mary and baby Jesus.  The Persian sun god Mithra was said to have been born on Dec. 25..."natalis invicti"...rebirth of the winter sun, unconquered by the rigors of the season.  That of course was the obvious choice for Christmas even though there's no biblical evidence that we as Christians should commemorate the birth of Jesus. 

Sunday (first day of the week) was also a very holy day to pagan sun worshipping cultures.  Where as throughout the entire bible, God's people observed the seventh day of the week as His holy day.  But Constantine, in an Edict back in A.D. 321 declared Sunday as the official day of rest on which markets were banned and public offices were closed (contrary to Ex. 20:8-11, Neh. 13:15-21).  Furthermore...a few years later at the Council of Laodicea, they outlawed the observance of the seventh-day sabbath:  "Christians should not Judaize and should not be idle on the Sabbath, but should work on that day; they should, however, particularly reverence the Lord’s day and, if possible, not work on it, because they were Christians" (Canon 29 [A.D. 360]).

After Constantine "accepted" Christianity and amalgamated it with paganism, the persecution of Christians did not cease.  Christians that kept the true faith and rejected this spurious new faith continued to give themselves up as martyrs who loved not their lives unto death. 

Throughout the bible, God's relationship with his church is likened to that of a marriage (See story of Hosea and Gomer, parable of the 10 virgins, etc).  Yet in Revelation, God talks about a church that has played the harlot...that has committed spiritual adultery against God.  That's why some pagans laugh at most strains of Christianity.  I saw a bumper sticker one time that said something about Christianity having pagan footprints. 
Did you copy and paste that from the zeitgeist web site or something?
Because most of that is half truths.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: fmason3 on April 01, 2008, 09:51:04 AM
Did you copy and paste that from the zeitgeist web site or something?
Because most of that is half truths.

no sir
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: fmason3 on April 01, 2008, 09:53:30 AM
Most of it is my words from studies I've done in the past.  I referred to a few sites like the catholic encyclopedia and wikipedia to get dates and latin phrases but that's about it.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Fenix on April 01, 2008, 10:01:28 AM
Did you copy and paste that from the zeitgeist web site or something?
Because most of that is half truths.

I am going to agree with you. It looks copy-pasted to me.

Sorry Mr Fmason3 .  :-\


Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Salvador on April 01, 2008, 10:12:23 AM
Well, it's not wrong per se.
But like I told Bruh Kell it places the emphasis on the wrong parts.

Constantine was pagan (like all previous Roman rulers) but, possibly because of his father, was tolerant of Christianity and employed not only Christian men, but priests in his retinue BEFORE his conversion.

And it wasn't so much "fusing" as much as it was one upping the pagan things. So the 3rd, 4th century Christians began making their own versions of the pagan things like Mithra killed a bull, Sampson kills a lion.
It was more like marketing, during a time that the culture was very imitative.

As for Mithra, a good rule of thumb to remember is that almost everything we know about the religion dates AFTER Christianity. So who influenced/copied who?

I'm going to have to look up the sabbath thing, which is weird because I JUST read something about that yesterday.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Fingers! on April 01, 2008, 11:03:07 AM
Did you copy and paste that from the zeitgeist web site or something?
Because most of that is half truths.

I thought what he said was okay.  A few questionable gray areas (he covered a lot of real estate) but generally, sure, why not...  But I wouldn't try picking him apart point-for-point unless I thought he was waaaay off.  A defense for Constantine's behavior would be sort of slippery to make, unless you're Catholic.  Don't get me wrong, I WOULD argue, but not FOR Constantine.

I liked what you said earlier until you mentioned Francis Bacon.  Mr. Bacon don't sit well with me in a religious discussion.  To me, it's like throwing blood into the water for sharks.  Nevertheless, I was able to move on and still accept your comment. 

If you go after each other point-for-point, especially on a vast subject as Constantine (didn't even bring up his mother), neither of you will get out of the woods alive. 
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Dredakyst on April 01, 2008, 11:06:36 AM
I'm going to have to look up the sabbath thing, which is weird because I JUST read something about that yesterday.

Didn't Paul debunk the case for the Sabbath??? Romans 14:5-6 (I like the New Life Version wording)

Kinda foreshadowing if you will...


As for the zeitgeist reference... keep in mind that sometimes those half-truths are what perpetuated the faith... sad to say..  Remember Judas was a disciple, with his own agenda.

But Like fire raining down on the prophets against Elijah, the very true essence of God will be revealed if you draw near to Him; and be willing to listen/open your eyes.

Christianity didn't adopt Paganism, the fallen man did.

If you believe in the scripture... everything is laid out accordingly. 

The rest we have added... Like Christmas, Easter egg hunts and I'm sure the list can grow darker....

There comes a point where you will have to be willing to separate the Holy Spirit/Move of God working through man; which is an alternative viewpoint from man trying to conjure up the very essence of the Move of God/Holy Spirit in order to appease man.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Furious Styles on April 01, 2008, 11:06:47 AM
In the defense of freemason his perspectives is not based on half truths. If one did the research outside of Wednesday bible study you'd find that many of the traditions taken on by orthodox christianity comes from many of these adopted customs. Constantine is an important figure in christian history because he was the first political power to give christianity a face. Many religions and customs had been practiced throughout the history of the various empires of the world. Scholastic comparisons of these empires in regard to the Jewish nation is very miniscule when you view the accomplishments of the world powers. God's will was accomplished through the jewish nation as a means to bring the world salvation.

God allowed and predicted through his prophets that Isreal would prosper but would be conquered by world powers such as Rome.(reference the prophecies of Daniel) By the time Constantine comes to power the Roman empire is on the brink of falling apart. It is he who commissioned the crusades. The crusades were not about converting lost souls but about aquiring more land, wealth and prestige for glory of the Roman empire. SO Constantine is not a saint but a central figure important in the mainstream recognition of Religion. The martyrs of the faith who secretly practiced the true teachings of Jesus were persecuted. Many such as Paul were murdered for upholding the true essence of the faith. These murders are consistent with the prophecies of Jesus who declared that tribulation and great challenge would come upon those who took the true essence of the Gospel to the Masses and those in power.

Today's American society is riddled with pagan traditions that have been adopted as "biblical". The spiritual aspect of the faith has been minimized while those who claim to stand for righteousness aren't really being persecuted. The fellowship of christ suffering and resurrection has been minimized to a form of truth, Godliness, and false information used as means to control people's mind. This my friends is the essence of withcraft in modern American churches... Strong medicine but I'm telling the truth. Some of you will not accept it as truth but historical, sricptural and cultural events point to these words...
 I'll finish this later in the P.M.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Bruh Kell on April 01, 2008, 11:08:31 AM
Well see look here.

I had a sermon coming to me last night and that was exactly what I was talking about.

One of my side notes was...............The move of God will never be mainstream!!!!!
That is to say mainstream culture will never accept the true Gospel. So you got to change it!!!! which is exactly what they've done.........

Actually if I had to give the sermon a title it would be "The Counterfiet God".
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Fenix on April 01, 2008, 11:13:22 AM
1) In the defense of freemason his perspectives is not based on half truths.
 
2) I'll finish this later in the P.M.


Sorry i had to alter your post a bit.

1) I SUSPECTED AS MUCH. See i was thinking maybe Fred Mason III or something like that.

2) NO!!!! Finish it here please. Don't worry about steppin' on toes man. Finish it here.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Salvador on April 01, 2008, 11:33:44 AM
In the defense of freemason his perspectives is not based on half truths.
I corrected myself in the next post.
It was for the most part true, I just disagreed with the emphasis.
It's like that picture of the U.S. soldiers and the camel spiders. The picture is real but the perspective of the picture changes the reality of it.

The Freemason post disturbed me in general because it was almost lifted straight from the Da Vinci Code.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Salvador on April 01, 2008, 11:34:20 AM
Sorry i had to alter your post a bit.

1) I SUSPECTED AS MUCH. See i was thinking maybe Fred Mason III or something like that.

2) NO!!!! Finish it here please. Don't worry about steppin' on toes man. Finish it here.
I think by "pm" he meant in the afternoon.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Salvador on April 01, 2008, 11:37:19 AM
I liked what you said earlier until you mentioned Francis Bacon.  Mr. Bacon don't sit well with me in a religious discussion.  To me, it's like throwing blood into the water for sharks.  Nevertheless, I was able to move on and still accept your comment.
It was just a quote, I'm not endorsing or sharing all of his beliefs.
The same as when I quote Aristotle, Einstein, or even a guy like Voltaire.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: fmason3 on April 01, 2008, 02:45:27 PM
Who is Freemason?  My name is Fred Mason, III hence "fmason3"....in no way related to freemasonry...
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: fmason3 on April 01, 2008, 03:17:55 PM
Well see look here.

I had a sermon coming to me last night and that was exactly what I was talking about.

One of my side notes was...............The move of God will never be mainstream!!!!!
That is to say mainstream culture will never accept the true Gospel. So you got to change it!!!! which is exactly what they've done.........

Actually if I had to give the sermon a title it would be "The Counterfiet God".

Agreed...that's why Satan is a deceiver...stuff that is his looks so much like the real thing that people can't tell the difference....or the difference no longer matters...because we should not banter over trivial matters :-\
So would this counterfeit god work like the re
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Fenix on April 01, 2008, 03:31:39 PM
Sorry i had to alter your post a bit.

1) I SUSPECTED AS MUCH. See i was thinking maybe Fred Mason III or something like that.


Who is Freemason?  My name is Fred Mason, III hence "fmason3"....in no way related to freemasonry...

In case ya'll missed it...

I AM GOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: lathoma on April 01, 2008, 04:28:30 PM
The Freemason post disturbed me in general because it was almost lifted straight from the Da Vinci Code.

I've never read the Da Vinci Code, but I do know Fred is correct in everything he just stated.  Go check out any college survey history text book concerning Western Civ or anything about the history of the early Christian church.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Salvador on April 01, 2008, 04:37:15 PM
In case ya'll missed it...

I AM GOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!
haha...umm, apri fools?  ;)
I've never read the Da Vinci Code, but I do know Fred is correct in everything he just stated.  Go check out any college survey history text book concerning Western Civ or anything about the history of the early Christian church.
I know my history of the early church.
And again, my problem wasn't so much with the data as it was with the semantics.

I see posts like that all the time...from skeptics.

I was just trying to point out I wouldn't say things quite the way he said them because of how they can be easily twisted.
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: B3Wannabe on April 01, 2008, 07:20:13 PM
haha...umm, apri fools?  ;)I know my history of the early church.
And again, my problem wasn't so much with the data as it was with the semantics.

I see posts like that all the time...from skeptics.

I was just trying to point out I wouldn't say things quite the way he said them because of how they can be easily twisted.

Ok. So, in other words, you're giving your opinion of how history should look, because you don't agree with it?
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Furious Styles on April 02, 2008, 12:14:19 AM
As promised I wanted pick up where I left off in regards to fmason's comments. My mistake on calling him freemason is a microcosm of how many in modern christianity see scripture and historical events from a perspective that we choose to see!! Constantine is the political figure who gave authority to the entity that became the mainstream church. Of course this church morphed into the Catholic faith. Witchcraft is defined as people being under the control of satanic forces through disception. The protestant reformation is the forunner of American christianity. Look closely and one would find the word protest. Martin Luther's ideas about spirtuality was consistent with many of the words of Jesus but his words were turned into religious fodder rather than a reformation among individuals. The protestants still recreated an organization fundamentally flawed due to their tendency to form the church in human interpretations of the spirit of God.

It is written that God is a spirit and those who worship him must do so in spirit and truth. Paul taught us that if we walk in the spirit that we would have a better chance to not to fall prey to sins of the flesh. The bible ultimately became the ultimate authority over how many "christians" handled many aspects of their lives. Notice that their isn't a scripture in the bible that will tell us to depend on the bible only. It tells us to be filled with the spirit!! Isn't the spirit greater than what is written? Throughout the canon the truth speaks to us in regards to the spirit of God but like our prodecessors of the faith we tend to seek after the tangible evidence of what we believe God represents. The catholic faith adopted the term father which was usually applied to a priest. Didn't scripture teach not to call any man father in the faith? Modern christians like to refer to their leaders or spiritual mentors as their "spiritual father" which isn't consistent with the teachings of the faith but it is consistent with what catholic leadership drilled into their followers. Many people fear their leaders more than the living GOD!!! It is also rooted in the same deception that many in the early mainstream church became attracted to. The deception was making the "Kingdom" of God out to be a phyisical manifestation through "Godly" Government and conquest. Doesn't this mirror the religious right movement of the past 40 years? (Theocracy) Did Jesus not proclaim that the Kingdom of God was within us the believer? Did he not tell the sons of Zebedee that they weren't wise to ask for such a high rank in his kingdom without knowing the price they would have to pay? Does that question implies that Jesus was talking about a physical manifestatiion of the kingdom? Spiritual people know the answer to this.

I know I know.. Doesn't he pray thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven? Yes but didn't he also say thy kingdom come? Hmmm... Sure sounds like the kingdom ain't here yet. It is within us because he coming back for those who understand the kingdom power that works within them. So witchcraft has a real footprint in the BOC!!! Many of you have noticed the heirachies that have developed among the many denominations. Where do you think the concepts came from? Bishops were appointed by Constantine. The council of Nicea was about how to control the flow of epistles that were being written all over the world about Jesus. Denominations seek to control the very essence of thought among the many churches under their influence.  They all have juridictional leadership that rolls up to one figure head that is called a bishop. The orthodox christians created that model. Once some of the orthodox christians split from what became catholocism many of the catholic churches followed the same model. The pope then assumed leadership of most of the material wealth gained through shady business deals such as war, slavery(also the enslavement of Africans shortly after the dark ages) prostitution and feudalism.

Many churches are consumed with the success of the organization of their denominations or fellowships at the expense of people who support the church. Do your homework and see how much loot the church had in those days compared to the peasants. You'd find who had all of the economic, educational, and societal advantages. This isn't speaking only from a financial aspect. It also speaks to the lack of concern for the deputizing of pew members to be more than just people who pack the church to hear entertaining sermons on Sunday. Our organizations or counterfeit churches are filled with people who aren't empowered to live spirit led lives due to the mind control that hovers over many congregations. All of these things have roots. I will be more than happy to expound on more examples. I did drop some hints in this long post. He who has hears let him hear...
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: B3Wannabe on April 02, 2008, 06:42:52 AM
Dude!

You sure can write an essay!
Title: Re: Who is Constantine????? Is he important at all?
Post by: Salvador on April 02, 2008, 09:21:19 AM
Ok. So, in other words, you're giving your opinion of how history should look, because you don't agree with it?
Note that I'm not trying to call anyone out. I'm trying to help him and others out. If I was saying inaccurate things I would want someone to correct me.

Again my problem wasn't with the data (history) although, contrary to what others have said, there were inaccuracies in the post.

So, no I wasn't giving my opinion on history. I was giving advice, one christian to another, on how I would go about phrasing certain aspects of it.

An extreme example I can give is once a young girl compared the oral tradition (a word she probable had never heard) to the telephone game.  :o
So, if you bring that to a skeptic it's not much of a step for them then to turn around and say "well then that probably means stories were embellished and fabricated!"
And they would probably be right.